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28 July 2008

Weekend work

I am worried about Rosie, our 12 year old Airedale Terrier. She's lost a bit of weight over the last week or so and she's been vomiting. She's still eating her evening meal but won't touch the biscuits in the morning. I've been giving her a little bit of porridge during the day, which she loves. Hanno will take her to the vet today. :- |

For the past few months, we've been talking about putting up a screen near our bedroom to shade the wall from the summer western sun. Our plan is to grow luffas all along the screen during summer and smaller crops, that would allow the sun through, in winter. Well, last week Hanno built that screen. You can see him in action, with his sidekick, Rosetta, above. (Clicking on the photos will enlarge them.)

We enriched the soil, which was mainly the natural clay we are on here, with compost, worm castings and some of the rich soil from the chicken coop. It was watered in with a weak solution of seaweed tea. Our first crop is lettuce and tomatoes - two Tropics and two beefsteaks. We've covered it all with straw to keep the soil at an even temperature and to conserve the water used on the garden. When these tomatoes have cropped, they'll be pulled out and the luffas planted. I will be selling those organic luffas with my homemade soap in a few months time.

Tomatoes are an important crop to us and generally I like to plant pink Brandywines. If you've never seen a Brandywine, above is a photo of one we ate on the weekend. I think they're the perfect tomato - juicy without being watery, more sweet than tart, few seeds and they have the most divine flavour.

What we eat depends on what is growing in the backyard. On Saturday I made some coleslaw and we had that with a garden salad with snow peas, and potatoes with butter and parsley.

I had just started taking off the outer leaves of the cabbage and out popped this little fellow! He's a sedge frog - a tiny leaf dwelling green frog which, when fully grown, will be about two inches long. He's now living in our green house.

We pulled out all the brandywines and cucumbers last week, enriched the soil again and planted up some leeks and more tomatoes. If you're new to vegetable gardening, I can't encourage you enough to enrich your soil. Compost, worms and all sorts of organic matter in your soil will help you grow the best vegetables possible. It is well worth the time it takes to do it.

And here is yesterday's garden, taken from behind the lazy housewife beans. We're eating some of these green beans raw and the rest I'm allowing to dry on the vine. I'll harvest a couple of jars of the finest dried white beans for my stockpile cupboard from them. They'll be a nutritious addition to soups and casseroles later in the year. I love those dual purpose vegetables.

Above you can see a pineapple growing among the kale. I am hoping it will produce pineapples this summer.

And in this last photo, meet some of my peeps. Here are Pippa and Mrs Rudd - two silver sussex, Margaret, my big light sussex, Martha, the buff Orphington at the top, and Bernadette, the Barnevelder at the bottom. Bernadette always looks angry but she's quite timid and sweet.

Gardening and knitting took up the best part of my weekend. My daughter-in-law, Cathy, found some Lion organic pure cotton for me last week so I experimented with that, knitting and unpicking it a few times until, at last, I was happy with the result.

Every so often my family and friends tell me they've read something on my blog, but none of them ever comments. So, in the hope of flushing them out, I'd like to say hello to Trisha, Kathleen (my sisters), and friends Susan, Bernadette, Wendy and Anna. :- )

Just one last word to my Australian friends. If this truck drivers' strike goes ahead, I encourage you to top up your stockpiles. Hanno and I are not due to shop for a while yet, but if the truck strike is on, it will affect grocery deliveries very quickly, so Hanno will stock up on a few items today. If you need to stock up, shop today or tomorrow if you can.

Thanks for the heads up on the truckies strike and the possible implications Rhonda. We need a few essentials but i was trying to have a "no spend" week. I think a trip to the local shops is called for.

All the best for Rosie and that the vet brings you good news and an inexpensive bill!

Rhonda, some food for thought about Peak Oil on Okham's Razor on the ABC yesterday morning - did you catch it? http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/default.htmIan Dunlop's take on what we should be doing now - simultaneously filling one with inspiration and dread. Once upon a time I would have trusted our political leaders to take something like this on - now I have very little faith in their ability to broker solutions honestly and fearlessly I am afraid.

Your garden is beautiful!!! Our's is producing but very weedy!!! :( Do you do anything special to keep the weeds out or is it just diligence on the weeding and hoeing? This morning I picked 18 heads of broccoli and blanched and froze them. It will be nice to have them for broccoli cheese soup or stir-fries this winter!! Am thinking of you with Rosie as well. Best wishes!

gwvI do hope your little Rosie perks up. Our border collie, Bonnie, is 13 and, you know, she's just getting old. I have so much gratitude in my heart for her small existence.

I've never given the ability to garden year round much thought but since reading your blog, of course, we (the 4 seasons dwellers)are exposed to this wonder of wonders a lot. I am hoping to extend our gardening season this year and will - for the very first time - do a second planting of cold weather crops in late August. Maybe, just maybe, if they're well mulched it will work out.

Hi Rhonda,I'll be praying for your dog Rosie. Praying the vet says it is nothing serious. When my dog has an upset stomach the vet suggests cottage cheese and cooked rice for a couple of days. Just recently I took my dog to the vet for her shots and her skin was very dry. The vet said I could try a dab of bacon grease in her dry food or corn oil. Thought this tip might help you sometime.Rita

I'm also hoping Rosie's OK.You're garden is an inspiration to see, and Hanno looks like an awfully handy fellow to have around! That's a nice screen he's put up. I'd love to see a pic when the luffas are growing. DH was also inspired to check out Hanno's "flower pot" water containers at Bunnings and it looks like two or three of them will be just what we needed (even though not at discount price).

I too don't see TV news and didn't hear about the strike until you commented. Even though it looks more QLD-centric some want it to go nation wide. Our stockpile will be a great asset but I'd better check that my elderly mum has sufficient stores. Thanks for commenting.

I hope you know what a wonderful thing it is you're doing having this blog. It's nice being part of your community, especially as times become increasingly uncertain.

I want to add my best wishes for Rosie and I hope it's nothing serious. Please let us know how she does.I think Hano did a beautiful job on the screen and the garden looks so lovely. The little froggy is so cute too.I wanted to also add a little tip. I usually keep a rag bag for cleaning but I don't go through sheets or clothes very fast to add to it and I was coming to the bottom. I had heard a lot of good things about microfiber cloths so I had priced them at a few places but was not prepared to pay $6.99 for one cloth...One? Is it just me or is that crazy? Then when I happened to be in the pharmacy getting some things I noticed that they had microfiber cloths in the automotive isle. I decided to take a look at the price just for the heck of it. To my surprise they were a 3 pack roll of 12 X 16 inch cloths for $3. A dollar each for reasonable size I can deal with. So my tip is to look in unexpected places for the exact same item. You might be surprised to find something you need much cheaper. I'm looking forward to seeing how well these do with cleaning.

I found your blog a few weeks and and I am so hooked! I thought I would pop in and say 'hello'. :DI was curious about what your growing season is like? I love your seeing your garden photos and my husband and I have been thinking about putting in a greenhouse to grow tomato's and such all year round. I wouldn't know when to pull tomato plants to replace since winter lets me know when their done for. LolAnd my best wishes for Rosie

Hi Rhonda,I have enjoyed your posts for several weeks now and have learned a lot about what has become our new lifestyle. It seems we needed to wait until retirement to be home long enough to plant a garden and are trying to be especially conservative in our use of natural resources. But I have a question. Do you really have pineapples growing in your garden? And what do you consider to be the basic food supplies necessary for emergencies?Sorry this post is so long and I understand if you can't respond.Keep up the good work and I too hope and pray that Rosie just has a temporary problem. Judie

Hope Rosie gets to feeling better-it is always a worry when one of the animals is ill, especially when she is older. I love Hanno's screen-now I have to talk my hubby into building one as our sun is so strong. Lots of hugs! Sharon

Oh your garden looks lovely and lush - ours is almost bare at this time of year down here! How do you get your beans so huge and green looking? Ours grow and crop reasonably well but never look that good! And where do you get your loofah seeds from? are they a tropical plant or could I attempt to grow some here in the cold mountainous south?Sorry for all the questions but your blog just gets my mind ticking over with countless possibilities!

Hi, sorry to hear about rosie,trust all will be well. I have been reading your post for weeks now and all my company has left, so today I made your soap, instructions were great. i set it all out to cool in a tray like your's but recycled from the hospital and the towel touched the center f the soap. So that part looks whiter and bumper(funnier/different) from the rest. I hope I have not ruined the soap, smells great, will turn it out tomorrow am, cut and stamp the blocks. Will let you know how it turns out. Also it took about 35 min. till I saw trace and it was not as defined as yours. Normal? have a great Monday Eileen

I hope and pray that Rosie is all better by the time you read my comment.As usual your post is very interesting and inspiring. I love the screen that Hanno made. He is a very talented man!I am hoping that my life will settle in a little so I can start implimenting a simpler lifestyle. Soon, I pray, soon.

Hello everyone. Thank you all so much for your good wishes and prayers for Rosie. Hanno and I really appreciate them. We couldn't get her into the vet today and hope to have an appointment tomorrow. There is no change in her condition just yet. I'll keep you posted.

Marg thanks for the Okhams Razor info. I used to automatically download it to my ipod but I stopped listening to it when I got really busy. I'll check it out.

Kristina, we just weed by hand and how. And, we don't stress out if there are weeds there.

Gill, yes, we can garden all year here. Our toughest season is summer with bugs and heat that burns the plants, sometimes we put up shade houses over the plants.

Judie, yes we are growing pineapples. It's just one plant that we'll get a few pineapples from. This is the second year of the first plant. I have just planted another three. My basic staples are powdered milk, tinned fish, rice, lentils, barley, rolled oats, bread flour, yeast, honey, sugar, tea, dried beans, olive oil, dates and sultanas. If I have those in my cupboard, a tank full of water and our vegetable/fruit garden and chooks, we could last a long time here at home.

Kate, luffas need hot weather. I bought my original seeds from Green Harvest, now I save seed from previous crops. We feed the beans with seaweed tea, apart from that, they just grow themselves.

Hi Rhonda, I hope Rosie is feeling better. It is great advice to replenish the stockpile. It would probably be a good idea to top up the fuel in the car too especially those of us living in remote or regional areas.

I hope Rosie's going to be okay. My cats sometimes feel a bit under the weather, but its usually something minor. Get well soon Rosie :-)

Your garden looks great! I now have about 4 courgettes which I'm convinced will be ready to crop within a week. I have lots of tomatoes which are staying green, despite getting quite big! Rhonda, would you crop them green and ripen in the sun, or leave them on the plant till they're red? In previous years they've gone nice and red on the plant so its not been a problem. I also have a little baby cucumber which should be ready in a week or so. Its all exciting!

I too amd excited about your Etsy shop and soap selling - I'll be having some!

I'm back from my stack of business trips and plowing through country/simple life again with renewed vigor. I wanted to stop by and say hello as it has been such a long time. I have been lurking but my computer time has been limited and I've been unable to comment the way that I would like.

Your garden looks great! What do you have around your plants as a mulch? Is that straw or hay? We don't usually mulch with anything but it really looks great around your plants:)

I really like your fence your husband did a wonderful job. Did you go by a design or make it up on your own?

We have been trying to stockpile. It has helped a alot this week. I truely believe groceries have double in the last few monthes.

I know I have probably have ask you once before but I can't remember if I have so here I go again.... Do you have a list you go by for stockpiling? I have been trying to double up on a few certain foods and I know I should for paper products. I just don't know if I should go by a list or by sale prices?

Wow You answered a big question as to two of my new chickens. I need to learn more about worm castings and composting. I got the coop finished and the chooks are doing great. They came home on Friday. They are already following us and answering to their names (well 3 of the 10 are).

I put in my 2nd garden in my life and it is doing wonderful. I did a small one as this is my first one to have in the past 21 years. Next year I will increase the garden. I will also look as to what I can grow during the autumn season.

Thank you for sharing your garden. I love it. Also, for sharing to going into a Simple Life is done by baby steps. Sometimes it is hard for me to do baby steps, but I am trying to do so. This is a journey, not an end result.

I have in my garden, put in a Clothes line, made my own Santitary Napkins, Baby Wipes and Baby Wipe Solution. I also have begun to clean with vinegar. I love the results it brings. Also, I put vinegar in my wash to disinfect and to soften the clothes.

I am also learning to repurpose Items. I got some Hawaiian sheets and made them into two curtains, door drafts, and covered a valance for my middle bathroom. i took another flannel snowflake set and made curtains for my sliding glass door. Have another flannel fitted sheet and will be making it into a curtain for the window. Should have enough fabric leftover to make a door draft for the sliding glass door. In my door drafts I roll up a towel that is no longer good for using in the bath, but is good enough to use for these. I had vertical blinds in my bedroom and i wanted to reuse the rods so I designed the curtains to hang over the rod and to be buttoned. The buttons were off some clothing that I wasn't going to wear. I also save materials from clothing to make it into what i want.

I have a nine year old shepherd mix and when she seems off her feed it has seemed to work wonders to feed her yogurt. I just feed her a small carton and she will eat that when nothing else seems to do the trick. Plain or with fruit, she likes it all, and in a day or two she's back to normal..Hope Rosie is better.

WELCOME TO DOWN TO EARTH

If you haven't already discovered the power of your own home you are in for a delightful and beautiful shock. Come closer and let me whisper in your ear, because if everyone knows this, it will cause a revolution. The work you do in your own home, by creating a warm and secure place for yourself and your family to live in, will enrich you and make you a different person. It saved me from a life of ridiculous spending and mindless acquisition and slowed me down enough to allow me to see the beauty here. When I took the time to change my attitude towards my home, it not only gave me the energy to do housework and the strength to make the physical changes so our home better suited how we live, it changed me in the process. It is a beautiful change that I am grateful for every day.